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Quotes on Mantle





Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Quotes by Mickey Mantle


Quotes by Mantle

  • "Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part."
    --quoted in Slick by Whitey Ford

  • "But god-damn, to think you're a .300 hitter and end up at .237 in your last season, then find yourself looking at a lifetime .298 average--it made me want to cry."
    --On himself in The Mick

  • "I can't play any more. I can't hit the ball when I need to. I can't steal second when I need to. I can't go from first to third when I need to. I can't score from second when I need to. I have to quit."
    --On why he was retiring

  • "I figure I got all the breaks in spite of my legs. Otherwise, I'd have been in the mines."
    --Quoted in Great Sports Reporting

  • "I could never be a manager. All I have is natural ability."
    --Quoted in Great Sports Reporting

  • "I was sitting here the other day, and I tried to remember what it was like to hit a home run and win a game. And I couldn't remember. It was like the whole thing happened to somebody else."
    --After his retirement

  • "...if I had played my career hitting singles like Pete, I'd wear a dress."
    --On Pete Rose in The Mick

  • "Sorry, Mickey, but because of the way you lived on earth, you can't come in. But, before you leave, would you autograph one of those baseballs for Him."
    --banquet speech ancecdote on his death and arrival to heaven

  • "We used to tease each other about whose liver was going to go first. I never thought it would end for him this way."
    --On the death of Billy Martin, quoted in USA Today

  • "Well, baseball was my whole life. Nothing's ever been as fun as baseball."
    --Quoted in the New York Times





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